| Additional Information: | Two other nearly identical homes located at 218 (AHI#12518) and 222 (AHI#175) 3rd Street East.
2017 report: Comprised of just three homes (214, 218 & 222 3rd Street East), this small district features three, nearly identical structures built of concrete block. Each two-story house has a pyramidal roof core that features a gabled wall dormer on three of the four elevations. Rock-faced concrete block comprises the first floor, while the second story is of smooth-cut block; the peak is again rock-faced with smooth block trim. A smooth concrete beltcourse delineates both the first and second levels. All three examples feature an open, shed-roof porch with columnar supports with decorative capitals, as well as a gablet over the entry; the house at 222 has fluted columns, while the other two feature plain supports. The original balustrade remains intact on 214, while the other two have been replaced. Windows throughout the homes are detailed with simple, smooth concrete sills and lintels.
Deed research and Sanborn map review seem to indicate that the three homes were built between 1901 and 1903 by former Ashland resident Charles A. Sheffield as investment properties. Born in Connecticut, Sheffield was a merchant like his father. As of 1870, at the age of forty, he is identified as retired; however, by no later than 1872, Sheffield had engaged in the lumber business, at which time the original Ashland Lumber Company was established and for which he served as its first president. The 1880 census finds Sheffield and his wife Louisa as residents of Duluth, Minnesota; however, the 1887-88 Ashland City Directory lists Sheffield as an independent wholesaler of lumber. Thereafter he is identified as living in Ashland and in real estate and/or as a capitalist. Additionally, and of particular note concerning the subject three houses, is that Sheffield also served as a director of the Ashland, Lime, Salt and Cement Company beginning circa 1890. Indeed, cement is an ingredient of concrete. Sheffield was also one of four persons responsible for the platting of Washington Square subdivision (which is part of the National Register-listed, Chapple and MacArthur Avenues Residential Historic District), as well as both Wilmarth & Sheffield’s and Sheffield’s additions to Ashland.
In July 1903, just over one month prior to Charles’ death, the three parcels (with homes) were sold for $2,200 to Josephine Hodges, who retained them as rentals through 1907. Hodges was the widow of Dr. Fred Hodges, who died in 1901. The next owner of all three homes was Nelson Hanson, the secretary and treasurer of the Hanson Clothing Company. Unlike the previous owners, Hanson and his wife Addie physically resided in one of the houses (at 222), while renting out the other two. Notably, their purchase price for all three was only $1,300 (as compared to the original $2,200 price paid by Hodges in 1903). Single ownership of all three homes ended in 1921, when Hanson and his wife sold each of them off individually. Purchasers in 1921 included Isaac Schwager (214; sold for $4,500), Solomon Cornish (218; sold for $4,500), and Abraham Latts (222; sold for $5,000), all of whom used them as their own personal residence. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Citations for paragraph #2 of 3 in additional comments: Sanborn-Perris Fire Insurance Map for Ashland, Wis. (1901, 1909); U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1860, 1870, 1880, Available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed June 2017; Ashland City Directory, 1887-1888, 1893, 1895, 1897; Charles and Louisa Sheffield (Utica, NY) to Josephine Hodges, Warranty Deed (6 July 1903), 96/555, #430822; A.T. Andreas, History of Northern Wisconsin (Chicago: The Western Historical Company, 1881), 69; Plat of Washington Square, City of Ashland (platted on 4 September 1888; recorded on 12 April 1889), Plat on file at the Register of Deeds, Ashland County, Ashland, WI.
Citations for paragraph #3 of 3 in additional comments: The Ashland Daily Press Annual, 1891-1892; Charles Sheffield died in 1903 while a resident of Canadaigua, New York, where he is identified as having lived for three years, “Mr. Sheffield is Buried at Canadigua,” unidentified and undated newspaper clipping (1903), U.S. Find-A-Grave Index, 1600s-present,” Available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed July 2017; Sheffields to Hodges, WD, 96/555, #430822; Josephine Hodges, widow, to Nelson Hanson, WD (16 December 1907), 95/517, #30834; Death date for Dr. Hodges listed in the “Directory of Deceased American Physicians, 1804-1929,” Available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed June 2017; Nelson and Addie Hanson to I.C. Schwager, WD (6 May 1921), 123/546, #65972; Nelson and Addie Hanson to S. Corush, WD (11 May 1921), 123/554, #66025; Nelson and Addie Hanson to Abraham Latts, WD (12 May 1921), 123/555, #66040. |
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